The Red Bull Crashed Ice season is in the books, but it's not too early to think about getting into the sport for the next winter. Jacqueline Legere shares her pointers.
Jacqueline Legere remembers her first ice cross downhill race. It was in Quebec in 2011, and as she recalls: “I didn’t train at all for that.”
To earn a spot in a Red Bull Crashed Ice race, flat ice qualifiers used to be the only point of entry. Since then, competition has grown to introduce the Riders Cup, a series of public events that are put on by riders for riders. The Riders Cup events happen all over the world, and saw one Canadian stop in La Sarre, Quebec during the 2017 – 2018 ice cross downhill season. To make it to the big show – Red Bull Crashed Ice – riders rack up points in the Riders Cup to punch their ticket.
Though Legere, now a two-time World Champion, has been on the Red Bull Crashed Ice circuit for a handful of years, she still attends a few Riders Cup events a year. Though these events are worth less points than their larger counterpart, they are critical for competitors in the throes of tight margins for the overall lead.
“I love helping people get into ice cross downhill. I love seeing new people try the track, giving them tips and seeing how they improve," Legere says. "Their first time down, they’re cautious and then warm up to it.”
With the season in the rearview, Legere isn't thinking too much about training for the next one — yet, that is.
“I like to soak it up and enjoy it. I relax and see friends and family, and do what I feel like doing.”
If you’ve got your eyes on joining the sport next season, it’s never too early to start training. In Legere's eyes, there are several ways of training indirectly.
“I do a lot of sports that also cross over, so it’s not like I’m not training at all. I’m still training, just not focused specifically on Red Bull Crashed Ice. I do a lot of biking in the summer: cross country, downhill, etc.”
You may be wondering, why mountain biking?
“It’s really good on the legs,” Legere explains, noting that some tracks require more endurance and others come down to sprints.
“It keeps you in really good shape, and also makes you think about line choices: I think that’s really important. Looking ahead but also navigating ruts and roots and stuff.”
But come a few months before the season starts, her focus shifts towards training more directly for the sport with inline skates at skateparks and facilities like Joyride 150 in Toronto.
Edmonton athlete Gabe Andre also trains at a similar facility in Calgary, the recently-opened B-Line Bike Park. Andre was the first Canadian ever to win a Red Bull Crashed Ice race, a feat he accomplished in 2006, and recently rejoined the tour in 2018 using a special wildcard entry he earned from hitting the World Championship podium in the past.
“A lot of my training used to be skiing and on ice,” Andre told us during a January training session at B-Line. “There’s not a lot of places that offer you anything near what a track offers you in a race.”
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